Real Betis and Atletico Madrid will meet in arguably the headline fixture of the weekend. Atletico Madrid defeated Granada 3-1 on Monday night at the Wanda Metropolitano. Real Betis opened their season with a 2-1 victory at Villarreal last weekend.
Preview (Betis vs Atletico Madrid)
Willian Jose’s 95th-minute goal against Villarreal in Real Betis’ season-opening match turned a good result into a brilliant one; the two teams were tied at 1-1 going into the final seconds, but Manuel Pellegrini’s team went on to win all three points. This Saturday, the Green and Whites will be put to the test once more by an Atletico team that has won the previous four La Liga matches between the two teams. Real Betis will host a team that had the second-best away record in Spain’s top division during the 2022–23 season, earning 35 points from their 19 games. They haven’t actually defeated Atletico at home in La Liga since February 2019.
Last season, Pellegrini’s team finished sixth in La Liga, seven points ahead of Osasuna in seventh position. This resulted in automatic qualification for the Europa League group stage. During a busy transfer period, Real Betis added eight players. There were also some significant departures, including Sergio Canales and Edgar Gonzalez. Granada and Atletico were level just beyond the hour. Samu canceled out Alvaro Morata’s opening goal. Memphis Depay made it 2-1 in the 67th minute. Marcos Llorente added a third goal in the last seconds of regulation.
The champions still have a number of problems that need to be fixed in the closing days of the transfer window, so it’s not out of the question that Atletico Madrid might make a title run this year. Last season, the Red and Whites won 10 of their 19 away league games, and they will need to continue that trend this year if they are to challenge Barcelona and Real Madrid for first place.
Team News
Claudio Bravo, William Carvalho, and Nabil Fekir missed out on Real Betis’ first game of the year due to injury. For the match against Real Betis, Atletico will be without Jose Gimenez, Nahuel Molina, and Reinildo due to injuries. Memphis scored against Granada off the bench, giving him a chance to start. Morata also scored and ought to have produced well enough to preserve his place in the attack. Javi Galan, Santiago Mourino, Caglar Soyuncu, and Cesar Azpilicueta were the only newcomers for the capital outfit this summer. In the second part of the 2022–23 La Liga season, Atletico excelled and ultimately placed third, one point behind Real Madrid in second. Barcelona led Diego Simeone’s team by 11 points at the top of the standings.
It’s tough to dismiss Atletico’s record against Real Betis given that they have defeated them seven out of their previous eight times in league play while being unbeaten in the process. Real Betis deserve a great deal of respect, but Atletico’s performance on the road last season was excellent, and we are expecting Simeone’s team to come away with all three points.
Real Betis 1 – 2 Atletico Madrid
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